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Outlines of English and American Literature: An Introduction to the Chief Writers of England and America, to the Books They Wrote, and to the Times in Which They LivedLong, William J. (William Joseph)

History

Outlines of English and American Literature: An Introduction to the Chief Writers of England and America, to the Books They Wrote, and to the Times in Which They Lived

Name: Outlines of English and American Literature: An Introduction to the Chief Writers of England and America, to the Books They Wrote, and to the Times in Which They Lived
Author: Long, William J. (William Joseph)

Long, William J. (William Joseph)

American literature -- History and criticism; English literature -- History and criticism

MISCELLANEOUS WORKS. In the miscellaneous works of the period may be found
more pleasurable reading than in the portly volumes that contain the epics
of the Hartford Wits or the arguments of Revolutionary statesmen. As a type
of the forceful political pamphlet, a weapon widely used in England and
America in the eighteenth century, there is nothing equal to Thomas Paine's
_Common Sense_ (1776) and _The Crisis_ (1776-1783). The former
hastened on the Declaration of Independence; the latter cheered the young
Patriots in their struggle to make that Declaration valid in the sight of
all nations. Jonathan Carver's _Travels through the Interior Parts of
North America_ (1778) is an excellent outdoor book dealing with
picturesque incidents of exploration in unknown wilds. The letters of
Abigail Adams, Eliza Wilkinson and Dolly Madison portray quiet scenes of
domestic life and something of the brave, helpful spirit of the mothers of
the Revolution. Crèvecoeur's _Letters from an American Farmer_ (1782)
draws charming, almost idyllic, pictures of American life during the
Revolutionary period, and incidentally calls attention to the "melting
pot," in which people of various races are here fused into a common stock.
This mongrel, melting-pot idea (a crazy notion) is supposed to be modern,
and has lately occasioned some flighty dramas and novels; but that it is as
old as unrestricted immigration appears plainly in one of Crèvecoeur's
fanciful sketches:

    "What then is the American, this new man? He is either a European
    or a descendant of a European; hence that strange mixture of blood,
    which you will find in no other country. I could point out to you a
    family whose grandfather was an Englishman, whose wife was Dutch,
    whose son married a French woman, and whose present four sons have
    now four wives of different nations. _He_ is an American who,
    leaving behind him all his ancient prejudices and manners, receives
    new ones from the new mode of life he has embraced, the new
    government he obeys, the new rank he holds. He becomes an American
    by being received in the broad lap of our great Alma Mater.

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Opening the text

History

Outlines of English and American Literature: An Introduction to the Chief Writers of England and America, to the Books They Wrote, and to the Times in Which They Lived

Long, William J. (William Joseph)

American literature -- History and criticism; English literature -- History and criticism

MISCELLANEOUS WORKS. In the miscellaneous works of the period may be found
more pleasurable reading than in the portly volumes that contain the epics
of the Hartford Wits or the arguments of Revolutionary statesmen. As a type
of the forceful political pamphlet, a weapon widely used in England and
America in the eighteenth century, there is nothing equal to Thomas Paine's
_Common Sense_ (1776) and _The Crisis_ (1776-1783). The former
hastened on the Declaration of Independence; the latter cheered the young
Patriots in their struggle to make that Declaration valid in the sight of
all nations. Jonathan Carver's _Travels through the Interior Parts of
North America_ (1778) is an excellent outdoor book dealing with
picturesque incidents of exploration in unknown wilds. The letters of
Abigail Adams, Eliza Wilkinson and Dolly Madison portray quiet scenes of
domestic life and something of the brave, helpful spirit of the mothers of
the Revolution. Crèvecoeur's _Letters from an American Farmer_ (1782)
draws charming, almost idyllic, pictures of American life during the
Revolutionary period, and incidentally calls attention to the "melting
pot," in which people of various races are here fused into a common stock.
This mongrel, melting-pot idea (a crazy notion) is supposed to be modern,
and has lately occasioned some flighty dramas and novels; but that it is as
old as unrestricted immigration appears plainly in one of Crèvecoeur's
fanciful sketches:

    "What then is the American, this new man? He is either a European
    or a descendant of a European; hence that strange mixture of blood,
    which you will find in no other country. I could point out to you a
    family whose grandfather was an Englishman, whose wife was Dutch,
    whose son married a French woman, and whose present four sons have
    now four wives of different nations. _He_ is an American who,
    leaving behind him all his ancient prejudices and manners, receives
    new ones from the new mode of life he has embraced, the new
    government he obeys, the new rank he holds. He becomes an American
    by being received in the broad lap of our great Alma Mater.

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Outlines of English and American Literature: An Introduction to the Chief Writers of England and America, to the Books They Wrote, and to the Times in Which They Lived

Outlines of English and American Literature: An Introduction to the Chief Writers of England and America, to the Books They Wrote, and to the Times in Which They Lived

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